Oscar Party at the Tivoli

I’m not a fan of awards shows. I’m interested in the results, but quickly get tired of all the b—s—.

Sometimes I’ll tape the shows and then watch them in the morning. Once you fast-forward through the insipid presenter banter, the speeches from people I don’t care about, the production numbers I’m not interested in and all the commercials, you can save a lot of time. I managed to get through last week’s Grammy Awards in a half-hour, and that’s with watching the Bob Dylan performance twice.

If I miss anything good, I can always catch it on YouTube.

When it comes to the Academy Awards, I tend to start watching about an hour to 90 minutes after it starts. By zapping through the crap, I usually catch up with the show in real time close to the end. It works out well. Last year I watched it while on Facebook, and it was interesting getting color commentary from friends and family. Much more interesting than getting it from Joan Rivers.

Of course, most people enjoy watching the awards live and some people enjoy doing it in a crowd. If you’re one of those some people, the St. Louis Film Critics Association and Landmark Theatres are co-hosting an Oscar Night Party at the Tivoli Theatre in University City.

There will be contests, trivia and prizes, so even if your favorite film loses you might still come out of it a winner.

The show will be aired in the 450-seat main auditorium beginning at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. and seating is not reserved. Admission is free, but a canned goods donation, to be collected for Operation Foodsearch, is encouraged. Concessions will be available for purchase.

This is next Sunday, Feb. 27, for those of you not afflicted with Academy Awards fever.

Will I be there? Probably not. I think we have a prior commitment plus I have a hard enough time sitting in a movie theater through a 3-hour James Cameron movie, I can’t imagine sitting there that long for an awards show. Plus, I’d probably be ineligible to win any prizes.

But it could be a good time if you’re an awards buff or a movie buff or a Tivoli buff (It is a really nice theater). For more information visit the www.stlfilmcritics.org website or call the Tivoli at 314-995-6270.